By Elodie Reed

JustThe Facts

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ST. ALBANS CITY — Cranes, construction workers and machinery galore have and will continue to take up residence on Federal Street for the next nine months as the Vermont State Office building and the new parking garage are completed.

Construction, which is being managed by ReArch Company out of South Burlington, began in December with the laying down of the parking garage foundation.

“The frame for the parking garage will arrive in mid- to late- May,” said city Director of Business Development Marty Manahan on Tuesday. The panels to go on the steel frame will arrive soon after, along with an additional crane to go with the one already on the site.

The garage, which is being constructed where the core parking lot used to be, will hold 370 spaces total, with 170 spaces leased by the state, 100 assigned to a potential 88-room new hotel in the former Rail City Salon’s location, and 100 reserved for the general public. The Kingman Street entrance will be closed off and replaced by a sidewalk and green space, and the new entrance and exit for the garage will be on Lake Street.

The state office building, a four story, 91- by 124-foot structure, has also been started. The 45,100 square feet of office space will fill its whole 0.287-acre lot, and it will be owned by ReArch and leased by the state. In the future, the state may have the option to purchase the building. Currently, the approximately 170 state workers in the area are housed in a building on Houghton Street.

With increased parking spots and traffic coming to the area, a traffic signal will also be installed near the new buildings. “We’re going to signal the intersection at Lake and Federal,” Manahan said. He added that traffic lights also would direct traffic on Catherine Street, and all of those would be completed in August or September.

Overall, everything should be completed by November or December of this year. “Everything is on target,” Manahan said.